Appearing on Tuesday’s NBC Today, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd touted President Obama giving a boost to Hillary Clinton’s struggling campaign during a softball exchange with Politico’s Glenn Thrush: “...this is something where the President was trying to do her a solid in this case.”
Co-host Matt Lauer prompted the discussion by playing a clip of Obama telling Thrush: “She can start here day one, more experienced than any non-vice president has ever been who aspires to this office.” Lauer proclaimed: “Chuck, if you're running the Clinton campaign, you’ve got to think that's an endorsement. You’ve got to play that tape any time you can.”
Todd gushed: “Well, that's right. And how about the way she reacted to it last night? I mean, it was, she goes, ‘I'm touched.’ I think she was not just excited but relieved...I think Hillary Clinton, look, their strategy....don't just stand next to the President, hug him, do whatever it takes. And this is a case of the President trying to reciprocate.”
Fellow co-host Savannah Guthrie observed: “Seemed to hug Hillary Clinton right back after she did him the same favor.” She then wondered: “Are there no coincidences in politics? Do you think this is something they worked out ahead of time?”
Todd replied:
Look, he has said he's not going to endorse until the, quote, “primary season is over,” but you know, he knows in his party – there's pandemonium in his party if she loses both Iowa and New Hampshire. There's calls to Joe Biden, there’s the whole Michael Bloomberg thing. This is, you know – this is, if she can win Iowa, she can calm a lot of nerves. And I think the President knew that.
Earlier in the segment, Todd applauded Clinton’s performance during Monday’s Democratic town hall event on CNN: “I thought that she was trying very hard to engage, trying to stay sort of nimble a little bit. She didn't come across bitter....I felt like you saw Bernie Sanders a little bit tensed up and you saw a more relaxed Hillary Clinton.”
Here is a full transcript of the January 26 discussion:
7:07 AM ET
MATT LAUER: Chuck Todd is NBC's political, and of course the moderator of Meet the Press. Chuck, good morning to you.
CHUCK TODD: Good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Clinton and Sanders’ Final Showdown; Face Off at Town Hall With One Week Before Iowa]
LAUER: Let’s go back to the Democrats and start there for a second. It’s often been said that Bernie Sanders is a candidate who appeals to the hearts of some Democratic voters, and Hillary Clinton appeals to their head. Now, did you see or hear anything last night in that town hall that changed that?
TODD: I don't know if I saw anything that changed it, but I thought Hillary Clinton was sort of acknowledging the place that she is in this race a little bit. Trying to fix it a little bit. I thought that she was trying very hard to engage, trying to stay sort of nimble a little bit. She didn't come across bitter.
I was surprised with Bernie Sanders, he was somewhat defensive. He got a couple of questions that weren't necessarily intended to force a contrast with Hillary Clinton, and he decided to go and take it. One was on guns and one was on when he watched her ad, he went right at foreign policy. So it was interesting, you saw sort of a – I felt like you saw Bernie Sanders a little bit tensed up and you saw a more relaxed Hillary Clinton.
GUTHRIE: And one of the other issues of course on the Sanders side of things is that Hillary Clinton is saying, “I'm the experienced candidate.” Sanders had a pretty good comeback, saying, “Well, experience matters, so does judgment.” Do you think she handled that, when it was her chance to respond?
TODD: No. I thought that was where – look, I thought that was his strongest moment, as far as an issue, trying to beat back this idea that he's not ready to do the job. And you know, she doesn't have a good answer and it doesn't help right now that the current national security situation in the Middle East is a mess. So, it – I think it only helps reinforce the Sanders charge, especially with Democratic votes.
LAUER: I just want to play this sound bite one more time from the President, doing an interview with Politico, and ask you about it on the other side. This is talking about Hillary Clinton. Listen.
OBAMA: She can start here day one, more experienced than any non-vice president has ever been who aspires to this office.
LAUER: Chuck, if you're running the Clinton campaign, you’ve got to think that's an endorsement. You’ve got to play that tape any time you can.
TODD: Well, that's right. And how about the way she reacted to it last night? I mean, it was, she goes, “I'm touched.” I think she was not just excited but relieved. And remember, Sanders is trying really hard to play the role of Obama here again. To create this sense of deja vu again. And I think Hillary Clinton, look, their strategy – and it’s been this way for three weeks – don't just stand next to the President, hug him, do whatever it takes. And this is a case of the President trying to reciprocate.
GUTHRIE: I was going to say, it's the most engaged he's been on this race. Seemed to hug Hillary Clinton right back after she did him the same favor. Are there no coincidences in politics? Do you think this is something they worked out ahead of time?
TODD: I feel like that there’s – this is something where the President was trying to do her a solid in this case. Look, he has said he's not going to endorse until the, quote, “primary season is over,” but you know, he knows in his party – there's pandemonium in his party if she loses both Iowa and New Hampshire. There's calls to Joe Biden, there’s the whole Michael Bloomberg thing. This is, you know – this is, if she can win Iowa, she can calm a lot of nerves. And I think the President knew that.
LAUER: And just ten seconds, Chuck, Donald Trump threatening to pull out of the Republican debate over Megyn Kelly. Does he do anything with that strategy other than make her a bigger superstar?
TODD: I think it does. Look, I think he's working the ref a little bit. I think he’s doing it and already, if he gets a question he doesn't like, he can just chalk it up to that. So I think he's just setting the expectations.
LAUER: Alright, Chuck. Chuck Todd, thanks very much.
